Col. L. 16.

Pr. Ixviii. 17.

civ. 4.

Rev. vii. 11.
Isa. vi. 1-3.
Rev. iv. 8.
Ps. xxxiv. 7.
Heb. i. 14.

SAINT MICHAEL AND ALL ANGELS.

The Collect.

IN FESTO SANCTI MICHAELIS ARCH

ANGELI, Oratio.

ordained and constituted the services of Angels and men in a wonderful order; Mercifully grant, that as thy holy Angels alway do thee service in heaven, so by thy appointment they may succour and defend us on earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

sas; concede propitius, ut quibus tibi ministrantibus in cœlo semper assistitur, ab his in terra vita nostra muniatur. Per Dominum.

[GOD

Greg. Dedicatio

S.

Arch. Michaelis.

OD, that in a merueilous ordre XIVth Century
ordeynedist seruisys of aungels

and of men, graunte thou mercifulli
that oure liif be defendid in erthe bi
hem that stonden ny euermore ser-
uynge to thee in heuvene.
crist.]

Bi

Prymer ver

sion.

MICHAELMAS DAY. [SEPTEMBER 29.]

There were anciently two days dedicated to St. Michael, May 8th and September 29th: and in mediæval times a third, to St. Michael in monte tumba', on October 16th. But the day most generally observed was that which we now keep, and which appears both in the Lectionary of St. Jerome and in the Sacramentary of St. Gregory, as the Dedication of the Church of St. Michael. This basilica may have been that of Constantine near Constantinople, or that of Boniface at Rome, the latter being dedicated A.D. 606. In the Eastern Church St. Michael's day is November 8th, July 13th and March 26th being also observed in honour of the Archangel Gabriel. These two are the only angels or archangels who are made known to us by name in the Canonical Scriptures, though Raphael and Uriel are named in the book of Tobit and in Esdras.

The holy angels in general are commemorated by the Church from a deeply rooted feeling of their communion with the saints, and of their ministrations among mankind on earth. Such a feeling is warranted by the words, "Ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels; to the general assembly and Church of the Firstborn..." [Heb. xii. 22]: and, "are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation ?" [Heb. i. 14.] The holy Son of God condescended to be ministered to by angels in His Temptation and Agony; they waited upon Him at His Birth and Resurrection; and at His Second Advent He will come with "all the holy angels." St. Peter was set free from prison by an angel, and one stood by St. Paul in the ship, thus illustrating their ministration to Christ's servants. Our Lord Himself spoke of their rejoicing over penitent sinners; and said of the little ones who had passed under His hand and benediction, that “their

Churches dedicated to St. Michael are often on elevated spots, as at St. Michael's Mounts in Normandy and Cornwall.

angels do always behold the face of My Father which is in heaven," as if indicating many ministrations to those who are His, some known, and some that are not made evident to sight or other sense. It has been a constant tradition of Christianity that angels attend at the ministration of Holy Baptism, and at the celebration of the Holy Communion; and that as Lazarus was the object of their tender care, so in sickness and death they are about the bed of the faithful, and carry their souls to the presence of Christ in Paradise.

Without taking into account, therefore, any of the many unveilings to our sight of holy angels and their ministrations recorded in the Old Testament, we have ample ground for believing that they are joined in a very close communion with those who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ. But whereas the saints were once sinners, and yet God is pleased that we should honour Him through them, the angels have never inherited unholiness or fallen from holiness, and still more shall we honour Him by venerating these pure and spotless servants of His who do His pleasure. And as our Lord has taught us to pray that we may do the will of our Father on earth as it is done in heaven, so may we take their example as the highest, next to His, of perfect submission to the will of God. While in respect to our worship on earth we may reckon it an exalted privilege to have such communion with them as to be able to say, "Therefore with angels and archangels, and all the company of Heaven, we laud and magnify Thy glorious Name, evermore praising Thee, and saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts, heaven and earth are full of Thy glory: Glory be to Thee, O Lord most High."

INTROIT. O praise the Lord, ye angels of His, ye that excel in strength ye that fulfil His commandment, and hearken unto the voice of His words. Ps. Praise the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me praise His holy Name.

HYMN.

MATTINS AND EVENSONG.-Tibi Christe, Splendor Patris. H. N. 42. 94.

SAINT LUKE OTORER IS

Zelotes, both words signifying a zealot; but in what sense is not apparent, unless the appellation is given him because he was one of a strict sect of Pharisees.

St. Jude, Judas, Thaddeus, or Lebbæus, calls himself "the brother of James," apparently to distinguish himself from Judas Iscariot; and it is probably for the same reason that these other names are put prominently forward, as on one occasion when his name Judas is used, a parenthesis is added, "not Iscariot." He was a married Apostle, and Eusebius mentions two of his grandsons who were brought before Domitian as confessors for Christ's sake [iii. 20]. St. Jude wrote the Epistle going under his name, which is read on this day.

St. Simon Zelotes is supposed to have ministered chiefly in Egypt and parts of Africa adjoining. Some early Greek writers state that he visited Britain, and suffered martyrdom there by crucifixion. But the more probable account is that he was sawn asunder (a mode of martyrdom named in Heb. xi. 37, and that by which Isaiah is believed to have suffered) in Persia, at the same time with St. Jude, who ministered chiefly in that country, and who was martyred by the Magi.

It may be in illustration of that unity of the faith for which the Epistle of St. Jude so strongly contends, that these two Apostles, ministering and suffering, are also honoured together.

INTROIT.-Thy friends are exceeding honourable unto me, O God: greatly is their beginning strengthened. Ps. O Lord, Thou hast searched me out and known me: Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising. Glory be.

ALL SAINTS. [NOVEMBER 1.]

This festival is not of the highest antiquity. It appears to have originated in the Western Church at Rome in the seventh century, when the Pantheon was dedicated as a Christian church under the name of the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and all Martyrs. This is said to have taken place on November 1st, A. D. 608, and the festival to have been kept on that day ever since. But in the Martyrology of the Venerable Bede (though not in his Calendar) there are two days dedicated to All Saints, one on the 13th of May, "Dedicatio Sanctæ Mariæ ad Martyres," and the other on the 1st of November. In the Eastern Church, the festival of All the Martyrs is observed on the octave of Pentecost, our Trinity Sunday; and this, as it appears, since the time of St. Chrysostom, who has left a homily preached upon the day. It may well be concluded that when the number of martyrs increased so rapidly as it did in the great persecutions, Christian common sense suggested such a feast as that of All

Saints, in addition to special days of commemoration for the more illustrious martyrs; and that the dedication of the Pantheon took place on a festival already familiar to the Church, rather than as the foundation of a new one. In the Sacramentary of St. Gregory both days have Collects, &c., provided for them, that in May being entitled "Natale Sanctæ Mariæ ad Martyres," and that in November, "Natale Omnium Sanctorum," the latter having also a service provided for its vigil.

Whatever may have been the origin of the festival, it has become one very dear to the hearts of Christians, and is made, both by the character of the Service for the day, and by the meaning of it, one of the most touching of all holy days; a day on which are gathered up the fragments of the "one bread" of Christ's mystical Body, that nothing be lost of the memory and example of His Saints. First among the "cloud of witnesses" are they of the white-robed army of martyrs who are not otherwise commemorated, whose names are not noted in the diptychs of the Church, but are for ever written in the Lamb's book of life. Next are a multitude of those who were called to wait with St. John, rather than to follow their Master with St. Peter, but who are not less surely numbered among the children of God, and have their lot among the saints. Among that holy company are some who are dear to the memory of a whole Church; good bishops and priests, whose flocks are around them in the book of remembrance; saintly men and women, whose lives have been devoted to works of love, although not ministering at the altar; hidden saints of God, whose holiness was known within the narrowest circle on earth, but who will shine like stars in the firmament before the throne.

When the Church thanks God on this day for All Saints, many an one among them should be remembered by those who are left on earth. At the Holy Communion, and in private devotions, their names should be used in memorial before God; and prayers should be offered by those to whom they are still dear, and with whom they are still in one fellowship, that all loved ones departed may have more and more of the Light, Peace, and Refreshment which the Presence of Christ gives in Paradise.

INTROIT.-Rejoice we all in the Lord while we celebrate this day the honour of all the saints: for in them the angels have joy and give glory to the Son of God. Ps. Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous for it becometh well the just to be thankful. Glory be.

:

HYMN.

EVENSONG.-Jesu Salvator sæculi.

MATTINS.-Christe, Redemptor omnium. H. N. 13. 33, H. A. M. 45, C. H. 21.